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ANTIFOUL, Altex No 5 - Archived Thread re-posted


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ANTIFOUL

Antifoul Altex No 5

 

idm28

Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:19 pm Post subject: Antifoul Altex No 5

 

What sort of duration are people getting with this product. My hull seems to be quite good after two years with the occassional water blast..maybe I will see if I can get 3 years out of it.

 

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wheels

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:15 am

 

The time you get out of any antifoul depends on many variables. Like how much you put on in the first place. What the water your boat sits in is like, as in salinity, temperature, Tidal flow, clarity and so on. Then also when you say a waterblast, what are you blasting off? and how fast does it come back. A fresh coat may see the growth or slime take longer to come back.

 

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Captain Haddock

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:40 am

 

I have only got 10 months from my Altex no. 5 this time around. I probably didn't put it on thickly enough though. I've just moved my boat from a marina to the Tamaki River so I'll be getting even more wear around the waterline with the increased wave action.

 

Also, I like to get under my boat and give it a clean every now and again - no hardship in summer which is when most of the growth happens anyway.

 

I'm seriously considering changing to Altex no. 10.

 

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quantum leap

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 10:25 am

 

wheels wrote:

The time you get out of any antifoul depends on many variables. Like how much you put on in the first place. What the water your boat sits in is like, as in salinity, temperature, Tidal flow, clarity and so on. Then also when you say a waterblast, what are you blasting off? and how fast does it come back. A fresh coat may see the growth or slime take longer to come back.

 

 

Your right on wheels.

 

Antifouls like No5 are what they call ablative and work by the salt water reacting with the "Water soluble resin" that binds the A/foul.

 

Most Ablative or "controlled Soluble Co-polymers are a blend of non soluble and semi soluble polymers that the active ingredient, Cuprous Oxide" is contained in.

 

The chemist generally designs the solubility of the resin to break down and expose "new copper" at a controled rate that suites a particular saline/temp and boat speed parameters.

 

No5 is very soft and suited for most conditions and boats that don't exceed about 20-25 Knots.

 

No 10 is a harder co polymer mix that can be burnished / scrubbed.

 

They key to long life is...

 

putting the right amount (film build) on and "extra coats"on the high wear areas (waterline...)

 

with softer a/fouls such as No 5 when you come to clean them the best way is to soft sponge the slime off then hose down with low pressure. high pressure water blasting is just blowing off a lot of good product.

 

Big ships use very similar products and easily get 5 years from their A'Fouls... why? well they have worked out the film build and solubility level that allows the A'foul to wears and self clean before wearing through to the base coat (1st coat).

 

They put an equivilant of 5 coats on and generally make the first coat a slightly different colour so they know when they are getting down to the last 6 - 12 months.

 

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idm28

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:08 pm

 

well i probably have a bit of a build up of product over the last years of using the same stuft. I have done two "soft" waterblasts in 2 years. I seem to be getting better results as a result of mixing the product with an electric mixer every hour or so as I was putting it on.I think by water blasting once a year I am exposing fresh material which seems to keep on working. Boat is at Gulf harbour so not much tidal flow there. I put two thick coats on with three on the high wear areas.

 

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wheels

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:54 pm

 

Once again I stress the "it depends on the situation" comment, but I used to go for the two coats and three or even four around high wear area's. And when we haul, she's very clean. But then the slipway manager convinced me to just go one coat. When we hauled again, she was only just slightly dirtier with slime. For our area, he reckons it is better to do one coat and haul each year. clean and one coat again. To many try and go two years and I am not saying that can't work. But at the same time, it is better to haul each year and inspect everything below water line. I am glad I did, I was a hairs breadth away from losing the rudder. Of course, that has to weighed up with your environment and the cost of Hauling. For me it's $250 to haul. I know it's a lot more for you guys in Auckland. I have a friend that can dry his boat at an extra low tide and so he goes two years. For me I can't.

 

By the way, it's not so much the wave action that can wear the antifoul in a river. Add up the speed of the current and the hrs it flows and you will be shocked by how many Nm your boat does each year while sitting on the mooring.

 

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quantum leap

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:34 pm

 

idm28 wrote:

well i probably have a bit of a build up of product over the last years of using the same stuft. I have done two "soft" waterblasts in 2 years. I seem to be getting better results as a result of mixing the product with an electric mixer every hour or so as I was putting it on.I think by water blasting once a year I am exposing fresh material which seems to keep on working. Boat is at Gulf harbour so not much tidal flow there. I put two thick coats on with three on the high wear areas.

 

 

hey the one very important factor that can make any A/foul look good for years...

 

if your boat has a fresh water / salt water mix of conditions. IE in a river or near a fresh water outlet/ drain.

 

Why well one of the greatest secrets that not a lot of people know is ....

 

anything (except some fish)that survives in fresh water generally dies in salt water and vice versa.

thats why saline (or salt water / salts ) is used to kill fresh water bugs!!! IE eye irigartion fluids, Chlorine to kill mould...

 

at my local boat ramp there is a strip of the ramp that has a leaky tap running down it 24/7 and this area is free from weed and slime right down to about a metre below the low tide mark.

 

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